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Countries move toward more sustainable ways to roll back malaria

The United Nations Environment Programme and the World Health Organization, in partnership with the Global Environment Facility, today announced a rejuvenated international effort to combat malaria with an incremental reduction of reliance on the synthetic pesticide DDT.

6 May 2009

Exposure to combination of two pesticides increase risk of Parkinson's by 75 percent

The fertile soil of California's Central Valley has long made it famous as one of the nation's prime crop-growing regions.

22 Apr 2009

Exposure to Agent Orange increases risk of aggressive recurrence of prostate cancer

Veterans exposed to Agent Orange are at increased risk of aggressive recurrence of prostate cancer, researchers report.

20 Apr 2009

Researchers show how PCBs may alter in utero, neonatal brain development

In three new studies - including one appearing online in the Public Library of Science - Biology (PLoS - Biology) - UC Davis researchers provide compelling evidence of how low levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) alter the way brain cells develop.

13 Apr 2009

Killing older mosquitoes is a more sustainable way to control malaria

Killing only older mosquitoes could be a more sustainable way of controlling malaria, and has the potential to lead to evolution-proof insecticides that never become obsolete, according to an article in this week's issue of PLoS Biology.

6 Apr 2009

Researchers examine medical effects of bed bugs and control and eradication strategies

A review of previously published articles indicates there is little evidence supporting an effective treatment of bites from bed bugs, that these insects do not appear to transmit disease, and control and eradication of bed bugs is challenging, according to an article in the April 1 issue of JAMA .

1 Apr 2009

Time of conception linked to birth defects in U.S.

A study published in the April 2009 issue of the medical journal Acta Paediatrica is the first to report that birth defect rates in the United States were highest for women conceiving in the spring and summer. The researchers also found that this period of increase risk correlated with increased levels of pesticides in surface water across the United States.

30 Mar 2009

Gulf War veterans display abnormal brain response to specific chemicals

A new study by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers is the first to pinpoint damage inside the brains of veterans suffering from Gulf War syndrome - a finding that links the illness to chemical exposures and may lead to diagnostic tests and treatments.

22 Mar 2009

World experts meet in Australia to find ways to wipe out malaria

Australia is host to a meeting of World health experts which aims to find ways of eradicating malaria, one of the world's most dangerous killer diseases.

9 Feb 2009

Experts suspect dengue mosquito is resistant to pesticides

With the number of confirmed dengue fever cases in north Queensland now thought to be in excess of 200, experts are concerned that the mosquitoes responsible for spreading the disease may have developed a resistance to pesticides.

27 Jan 2009

Water pollution linked to male fertility problems

New research strengthens the link between water pollution and rising male fertility problems.

19 Jan 2009

Prenatal exposure to environmental pollutants linked to higher BMI in toddlers

A new study reveals an association between prenatal exposure to environmental pollutants and elevated body mass index (BMI) during the first three years of life, as reported in the January 2009 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP).

15 Jan 2009

California's rise in autism cases

A study by researchers at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute has found that the seven- to eight-fold increase in the number children born in California with autism since 1990 cannot be explained by either changes in how the condition is diagnosed or counted - and the trend shows no sign of abating.

9 Jan 2009

Vatican blames the Pill for environmental pollution

According to the Vatican's official newspaper, the contraceptive pill is a major cause of male infertility in the West and is also polluting the environment.

7 Jan 2009

Cairn's residents threatened with fines over dengue outbreak

Health officials in Cairns in the tropical northern part of Queensland, Australia are battling to contain an outbreak dengue fever in the region.

22 Dec 2008

Children of farm workers less likely to have health cover

Children of farm workers are three times as likely as all other children and almost twice as likely as other poor children to be uninsured, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

1 Dec 2008

Pollution comes home and gets personal: Women's experience of household chemical exposure

Although Americans are becoming increasingly aware of toxic chemical exposure from everyday household products like bisphenol A in some baby bottles and lead in some toys, women do not readily connect typical household products with personal chemical exposure and related adverse health effects, according to research from the December issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

21 Nov 2008

EPA seeks public comment on proposal to add hazardous pharmaceutical waste to universal waste rule

To help provide a streamlined system for disposing of hazardous pharmaceutical waste that is protective of public health and the environment, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to add hazardous pharmaceutical waste to the Universal Waste Rule.

20 Nov 2008

One in four Gulf war veterans suffers from illness caused by toxic exposure

At least one in four of the 697,000 U.S. veterans of the 1991 Gulf War suffer from Gulf War illness, a condition caused by exposure to toxic chemicals, including pesticides and a drug administered to protect troops against nerve gas, and no effective treatments have yet been found, a federal panel of scientific experts and veterans concludes in a landmark report released Monday.

17 Nov 2008

Contaminants in human milk

An overview of studies on environmental pollutants in human milk has found that not breastfeeding an infant typically poses more of a threat than does exposure to any of the chemical agents measured in human milk, as reported in the 11th Annual Children’s Health Issue of Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP).

6 Nov 2008